10 Oct - Finance Ireland rolls out fund of €100m to enable Irish property owners exit vulture funds
Finance Ireland Commercial Mortgages has established a fund of €100m to lend to commercial property owners to finance exits from so called ‘vulture funds’.
Finance Ireland was set up by former permanent tsb CEO Billy Kane and is Ireland’s largest non-bank lender. It was the first non bank to be approved by the SBCI for SME lending. The Company says it expects the new fund will be fully deployed over the next 12 months to finance commercial investment in the €1m-€6m loan market.
Ken Murnaghan, Managing Director of Finance Ireland Commercial Mortgages said the move will help people with commercial loans to exit vulture funds.
“Once a property owner is close to negotiating a deal with the vulture fund, they need to look at refinancing and that’s where we come in. To date we have completed over 20 deals in the €1-6m category, which is our target loan space. The deals cover office, retail, industrial and multifamily buy to let properties.”
“We are Irish owned and managed and because we were the first Irish specialist lender to raise term debt on international markets we have full authority to make our own lending decisions. We know the market intimately and we don’t have to refer back to a head office to approve or second guess what we want to do. That gives a lot of comfort to our customers” he said.
Murnaghan, who previously had senior roles at Ulster Bank and AIB, pointed out that after years of operating in survival mode, businesses were beginning to realise that alternative refinancing solutions existed.
“Our customers are telling us that the traditional banks are more interested in big ticket loans and are highly selective about who they lend to in the €1-6m loan space. We can move faster because we are focused on this space, because we understand the loan settlement business and because we adopt a pragmatic approach.”
“We are comfortable refinancing deals from loan funds, it’s a specialised part of the business and our processes suit that. Unlike some of our competitors, Finance Ireland is a fully regulated entity, offering superior protection to customers. Basically we’re saying it’s a good time to bring your loan back home” Murnaghan concluded.
Ends.
For further information
Contact Kieran Garry
Gordon MRM
kieran@gordonmrm.ie
About Finance Ireland
Finance Ireland Group is a successful and growing diversified financial services business active in commercial mortgage lending, auto finance, leasing and agri finance. It is a privately owned business with a significant minority investment by global investment management firm Pimco. The specialist lender, which was established in 2002 is headquartered in Ballsbridge in Dublin 4 and employs over 90 people. The group has net assets in excess of €40 million. For further information go to www.financeireland.ie.